No. 762 Cloud Study

Cloud Study

9" x 12"

Oil on Canvas

Whoa! It's been a mighty long time since my last post. We had a wonderful time with lots of family over the holidays. January was filled with home remodeling. I've always been one to spend extra money on travel but we finally decided something had to be done about the 30 year old flooring in our home. Somehow that led to a massive decluttering event and the decision to paint most of the walls. When you give a mouse a cookie right? The house isn't completely put back together yet but we are getting close.

Today's painting is from my class cloud demo. We are studying clouds for the entire month. I had fun painting this four times while demonstrating atmospheric perspective. Kind of a meditative process, painting clouds.

No. 749 Bailey's U-Pick - Plein Air

Bailey's U-Pick - Plein Air

Oil on Gessobord

6" x 6"

Click to Bid

When the weather is fine my wonderful students let me drag them into the field to paint - literally. We were painting in a field. :) I enjoyed the view so much I stayed after class to paint it myself. Thank you to the Bailey family for always being so gracious about us painting on their farm. Also, a huge thank you to my students for taking on the plein air challenge.

Here's a little video of our experience:

And a link to the 1 minute video, just in case you can't see the icon:

Click HERE

~ Susan 

No. 732 A Change of Pace

A Change of Pace

Oil on Linen Panel

5" x 7"

Another leftover still life from class. This time I supplied the pear. You just can't go wrong with pears.

No. 716 Missing Roses

Missing Roses

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

Oh, my poor neglected blog! I've been looking through my files for paintings that have been missed. This is one of the Perrin rose series. My very own roses are getting close to blooming. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I can't wait to paint them using what I've learned.

We've had some beautiful weather here recently. It's been unseasonably warm. I took my Monday class for a plein air session. They took to it like ducks to water!

Peggy working on a thumbnail sketch of the view.

The whole class working hard. Costco beach umbrellas to the rescue! Thank you again to Carol for the ice tea. It was much appreciated!

No. 706 Tulip Demo #1

 

 

Tulip Demo #1

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

 

The theme for my February oil painting class was tulips. I kind of had forgotten how hard they can be to paint. Thanks guys for hanging in there! My awesome students rose to the challenge and created some wonderful paintings of this difficult subject.

 

 I created a video of the process of making this painting for my class. If you are interested in seeing how this painting came together you can view it here:

 

 

and here is the link if the video icon isn't visible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iPudw7H4r4

No. 699 Evening Hydrangeas

 

 

Evening Hydrangeas

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

 

One of two studies I created for a video demo I made for my class. Speaking of my class here is a video of them in action:

 

 

and the link if you aren't seeing the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PKQW18ZBsU

 

Last but not least a collage of the paintings they were creating in the video:

 

 

Top left - Carol Dungan, top right - Claudia Walker

Bottom left - Karen Bakke, bottom left - Evette Norton

I couldn't be prouder!

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. 666.5 Glass Painting Demo

 

 

Glass Painting Demo

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

 

The September theme in the oil painting class I'm teaching was "Learning How to Paint Glass".  Wow! We had some great work come out of that class. We started the month painting upside down, black and white photos of glass and ended painting from life. This was my "painting from life" demo.

 

 

No. 645 Farmer's Market Sunflowers 2

 

 

Farmer's Market Sunflowers 2

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

 

I am thoroughly enjoying the Everett Farmer's Market.

There are three or four booths bursting at the seams with locally grown flowers. It is a

 blast wandering from booth to booth looking for the perfect bouquet. :)

 

This week was the beginning of my Monday evening class. Lucky me! I have not one but two wonderful groups of students to teach.

 

 



 

Jill blocking in her pear.

 

Emily painting with purpose and finesse.

 

Shannon on fire! Her second painting of the evening.

No. 642 The Tinkling of Gold and Silver

 

 

The Tinkling of Gold and Silver

Oil on Gessobord

6" x 6"

 

Another still life inspired by the oil painting class I'm teaching. We started back up with a bang last week after a summer break. Intermediate students worked on learning how to paint glass and the beginners worked on value studies of pears. It is such a kick to see what people create...

 

 

Peggy working on a glass study...

 

It turned out lovely!

 

 

Karen Bakke's wonderful glass study.

 

Carol's terrific pear. She says she is a beginner. I'm not so sure... :)

No. 640 Nikki's Eggs

 

 

Nikki's Eggs

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

 

A demo from my Wednesday morning oil painting class. After a summer break, we are back at it next week. I'm very excited to have a full class of wonderful students. If anyone is interested, I've also added a Monday evening class for those who have to work or take care of kids during the day.

 

There are unexpected benefits to teaching. One of my students, Nikki, has hens. During a particularly prolific egg laying period she brought in beautiful, fresh eggs for us to paint and take home!  In addition to raising fine, egg-laying chickens, Nikki is a wonderful artist and teaches art to children. Visit her website HERE.